Call to correct India-Ghana trade imbalance

Trade between India and Ghana may be growing but the increasing trade imbalance between the two countries needs to be corrected, Roger Angsomwine, Ghana's secretary to the cabinet, has said.

"We are very much aware of the fact that a lot more can be done to increase the balance of trade and deepen the mutually beneficial relations between our two countries as we advance into 2014," Angsomwine said while speaking at a function here Sunday to mark the 65th Republic Day of India.

Statistics show that trade turnover between the two countries stood at $739.52 million during 2010-11 and $1.2 billion in 2011-12, an increase of 62.81 percent over the preceding year with India's exports to Ghana amounting to $800.35 million as against an import figure of $403.67 million.

"This is the first time when trade between the two countries has crossed the $1 billion mark," India's High Commissioner to Ghana, Jeeva Sagar, said while speaking at the event.

Total trade from April to September last year, stood at $573.44 million with exports from India and imports by India pegged at $393.75 million and $179.69 million respectively.

Angsomwine appealed to Indian public and private health institutions to consider partnering their Ghanaian counterparts within the framework of public-private partnerships to set up renal units across this African nation to offer affordable treatment to patients.

"This is because Ghana recognises India's capability and expertise in this specialised field of medical practice which is becoming a silent killer in Ghana," he stated.

Expressing the hope that India would continue to deepen relations between the two countries by encouraging and promoting activities particularly in the areas of technical education and vocational training to provide employable skills to the youth, he assured the Indian business community in the country that the government would "continue to provide an enabling environment for foreign business to operate in the country for our mutual benefit".

High Commissioner Sagar said that about $800 million have been invested by Indian companies in a variety of sectors in Ghana while "hundreds of Ghanaian students and officials are receiving training in India every year".

"These statistics are just a part of the larger story of friendship and affection between our two countries which are much more profound," he added.

Ghana's main exports to India are gold, cocoa and timber products whilst India's major exports to Ghana include pharmaceuticals, telecommunication, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, plastics, steel and cement.

(Francis Kokutse can be contacted at fkokutse@gmail.com)

Indo-Asian News Service

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